Mad Rush review – an intricate phone scam isn’t quite enough to drive this very Melbourne movie

There are few films that feel as quintessentially “Melbourne” as Mad Rush, the feature debut of writer-director Maddelin McKenna. It largely unfolds in the city’s centre, with a scaled-back colour palette – lots of blues and greys – that seems informed by the city itself. McKenna brings a grainy street-level authenticity to a story centred on gen Z protagonist Madisha (Senuri Chandrani), who is targeted by an intricate phone scam involving callers who claim to work for the Australian tax office and insist she withdraw all cash from her bank account.

In Hollywood’s hands this premise would probably become a pulse-pounding thriller. Here, it more closely follows the beats of a far more realistic “day in the life of” narrative. Its small conversation-based moments are convincingly staged, but don’t do much to service the plot or propel things forward, although the pacing remains quite tight across the run time’s lithe 76 minutes.

At times I was reminded of SBS’s spunkier drama Swift Street, which similarly feels very much like a product of its environment. Mad Rush also has the aura of a truly indie work: unburdened by conventions with an appealingly unpolished, guerrilla energy that feels (perhaps also like Melbourne) stylish without being flashy.

It is, as the title suggests, an experience that prioritises motion, manifesting in a couple of different forms. First the literal – showing Madisha literally dashing through Melbourne’s streets – but there’s also the more figurative, with her life and circumstances being in a state of flux. Madisha has recently lost her job, for reasons gradually etched out, and needs to find somewhere to live, her housemate having broken the news that she’s moving out with her partner.

Introducing protagonists who are at a crossroads in their lives both orients and destabilises our perspective. We’re encountering these characters at a moment of upheaval and uncertainty, making their personalities more difficult to read and their motivations harder to discern. But this upheaval can force people out of complacency, revealing something fundamental about their character.

From the outset it’s clear Madisha is keen to return to some semblance of normality – which is exactly when dramatists tend to add some heat, piling on the difficulties for an already beleaguered protagonist. Ergo: she receives a series of phone calls informing her of suspicious activities associated with her bank account as part of an “ongoing federal investigation”. A request comes to drain her account of cash, among other things.

Madisha’s general compliance feels like a bit of a stretch. However, the director has spoken about a similar circumstance happening to a friend, and the film even begins with a declaration that it’s based on a true story, which feels like a way of saying “see, these things do happen”.

The blue and grey colour palette seems informed by the city itself. Photograph: Melbourne international film festival

The film’s core problem is that the central story isn’t all that interesting, and doesn’t feel quite enough to build an entire experience around. I doubt many viewers will seriously entertain the idea that the phone callers are legit, making the very core of the plot a bit of a non-event.

Mad Rush is well judged, aesthetically and atmospherically, and sprinkled with embellishments that juice things up a little while never thwarting its verisimilitude. There are carefully placed slow-mo shots, for instance, and moments in which the camera creeps towards the actors, as if wanting to absorb their stories.

In the lead role Chandrani cuts a dynamic and very compelling presence, bringing relatability but also edge and uncertainty; we’re never quite sure what she’s capable of. Some extra narrative polishing, and a more expansive final act, might have made the experience that much more dramatically satisfying.